Cefn R & D Biogas

Cefn R & D Biogas is an agricultural methane destruction project located in the Darling Downs region near the rural locality of Ellangowan, approximately 50km southwest of Toowoomba in Queensland. It was registered in August 2015. While the specific project area size is not published, the surrounding region is heavily utilized for highly productive agriculture. The local land use consists of intensive cropping (such as wheat, sorghum, and cotton) as well as large-scale livestock grazing and feeding operations, including multiple commercial piggeries and cattle feedlots.

Agricultural methane destruction projects operating under the manure in piggeries methodology involve installing specialised biogas collection systems. This typically utilizes covered anaerobic lagoons to capture manure effluent before it can off-gas. The standard requirements mandate that the captured methane, which would otherwise vent directly into the atmosphere, be routed to a combustion device, such as a flare or generator, for destruction. This specific project actively collects and combusts the methane generated from piggery manure waste stored in covered lagoons.

The environment in this area features a subtropical, sub-humid climate with moderate rainfall. The Darling Downs region is widely known for its highly fertile, basalt-derived cracking clay soils (often referred to as black soils or vertosols), which easily support the intensive agricultural grain production required to feed large-scale pig farming operations.

An interesting note about this project is that it was contracted by the Australian Government in January 2016 under carbon abatement contract CAC102482. Cefn Energy Pty Ltd successfully fulfilled its fixed delivery obligation of 84,000 ACCUs (Australian Carbon Credit Units) over a 7-year period, and the contract was successfully completed in January 2023. The proponent, CEFN, operates multiple significant piggery facilities in the immediate area, with some breeding units having capacities of up to 7,000 animals, making this an impactful site for emissions reduction in the local pork industry.